Welded spoke wheels have been available for a number of years. Such wheels are relatively strong and inexpensive, and thus have found wide use in tricycles and sidewalk bicycles. During manufacture of a welded spoke wheel, the inner ends of wheel spokes are positioned at opposing ends of a cylindrical center tube which serves as a wheel hub. Circular end caps are then placed against the inner ends of the spokes in register with the tube ends, and the caps are welded to the tube so that the spokes are caught in the weld. Axle openings are punched in the end caps, prior to welding them to the tube, to accommodate a wheel axle.
It is also known that welded spoke wheels may be used with pedal cranks to form a tricycle front wheel. To achieve this the circular end caps are formed with slots or keyholes which engage radially extending tapered tabs formed in a pedal crank shaft. The pedal crank shaft is then inserted through the axle openings in the end caps. This assembly process is usually completed at the factory.
However, welded spoke tricycle wheels are not especially economical to ship. In particular, a shipping carton must be used which is at least as tall as the wheel diameter and at least as wide as the distance between the outermost ends of the pedal cranks. Since these two dimensions tend to be approximately equal, flat and narrow cartons, which are easier to handle than wide or large cartons, cannot be used for shipping a welded-spoke tricycle front wheel.